Island



June 19, 1923.

G. P. BOSWORTH HOMER! AND METHOD F MAKTNG THE SAME F1 Led July 1919 Imen"i0 G'coi gePBoswoviii Patented June 19, 1923.

v UNITED STATES GEORGE P. BOBWOBTH, OF CENTRAL FALLS,

HILL 00mm, 0! PAWTUGKET, REODE OHUBE'I'TB.

maroon 13mm), assumes no nur- ISLAND, a conrona'rron or xassa,

HOSIEBY ANIIHETHO D O]? RING 1133 BAKE.

. Application filed July 5,

To all whom it my cmwem:

Be it known that I, Gnoaos P. Boewoa'ru, fort a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Central Falls, in the county of Providence 3and State of Rhode Island, have invented an 1m rovement in Hosiery andMethods of Making the Same, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likecharacters on the drawings representing like arts. p This inventionrelates to hosiery and to the method of making the same.

The object of the invention is economically to produce a stocking, moreparticularly of the full-fashioned knitted type, havin a foot includintoe and heel pockets and a portion inc uding ankle and fashionetf calfseamed respectively along the center-of the bottom of the foot and upthe center of the back of the leg to the top of the calf.

Referring to the accompan ing drawings wherein I have merely for t epurposes of illustration disclosed one embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a completed stocking made in accordancewith my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one form of blank therefor; and

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustratin the arrangement of the needles employsin knittin the stocking blank.

1% the drawings, referring particularly to Fig. 1, a stocking is shownembodying a foot 2, including toe and heel pockets 3 and 4 respectively,an ankle 5, a fashioned calf 6 and a tubular leg 7.

The toe pocket 3 is herein shown as having a seam 8 across the topthereof, and in addition to said seam there is a seam 9 ex tending fromor near said seam 8 alon the tip of the toe pocket around the tip 0 thetoe as at lfi along the center of the bottom of the foot and up thecenter of the back of the leg to the top of the calf 6, but obviouslywithin the scope and purpose of the invention said seam 9 may beextended if desired to the top of the leg 7, merely, however, to form animitation or mock seam.

All of the parts hereinbeforementioned may be and preferably are formedautomatically in and by a continuous series of knitting operations uponone and the same 'leg or at the toe,

191s. lel'lll Io. mp5s.

macllliine, and as hereinafter more fully set Although I shall-hereinrefer to the stockmgae a machine-knitted stocking and refer to itsformation upon the machine of the general type, n as ,a circularknitting machine wherein either the needle cylinder or the knitting camshave relative rotary or neiprocatory movement, it is distinctl to beunderstood that within the scope an W of the invention the stocking mayitted by hand or upon other types of machines than those to whichreference has been made, as forexample, on a straight bar knittingmachine or a knitting frame socalled. As previously stated, the stockingblank, from which the stocking embodying this invention is produced, isknitted upon a circular knitting machine and the produc tion thereofinvolves both rotary and reciprocatory movements of the machine, and Iwill for convenience refer to these movements as being applied to theneedle carrier or cylinder, rather than to the knitting cams. Obviously,the knitting of the stockin blank may be started either at the top ofthe but herein I shall refer to the operation as beginning at the toeand upon a circular series of needles having an interruption or gap inthe circular continuity of wales formed by the withdrawal of a certainnumber of needles at a point in the circumference representing thecenter of the bottom of the foot portion of the stocking. Upon thisinterrupted series of needles I roceed to knit a plurality of courseseit er reciprocatingly or as herein shown by circular knitting, therebyto form a series of protective courses ll, opposite ends of said coursesbeing connected together by floating yarns 12, which span the gapproduced by the absence, during such knitting, of the above-mentionedwithdrawn needles.

Having knitted a sufficient number of these protective courses, the nextstep is to produce the toe pocket 3, the first course in the formationthereof being effected by with drawing from action in the usual mannerthe needles representing the instep needles which, in other words, arethose upon which the upper portion or half of the foot of the stockingis knitted, said needles retaining their loops while thus withdrawn.Knitting next proceeds upon the remaining portion of the needles whichare arranged in two groups, substantiall comprising the same number ofneedles, liut separated by a gap reduced by the withdrawn needles hereinfore referred to.

To better understand the arrangement of the needles at this point, letit be assumed that there are three hundred needles in the entiremachine, one hundred of which represent the instep needles and comprisethe group 13 (see Fig. 3), which at this point in the operation arewithdrawn from action retaining their loops, another hundred of saidneedles represent the needles upon which the fabric constituting the toepocketis to be formed and these needles are separated into two groups ll and 15. of say fifty needles each, by ,a third group 16 of one hundredneedles, which latter group was withdrawn at the start of the knittingoperations.

Reciprocating, knitting now continues upon the groups 11 and 15 toclient the usual narrowing and widening operations neces sary to producethe toe pocket 3. which narrowing and widening operations include thegradual withdrawal of needles from opposite ends of the series. untilthe required number have hen withdrawn. and subseon ntly restoring saidncedlcs in a reverse order to unite the courses previously formed h thnarrowing operation. living to the cparation ot' the toe pocket needlesinto two groups by the n edles 16, aid toe pocket will he formed in twosections separated by a gap corresponding to the withdrawn group ofneedles 16. said gap being spanned by floating yarns 18.

Following the knittinu of the last widenin; course of Said toe pocket.the needles of the group 1-! are restored to action and circularknitting: proceeds upon all the nec dies except those of the group 16,thus forniinn the fabric of the foot. 2 between the toe and h cl pockets3 and 1 respectively. Upon c: ction. the last circular course of thefoot prior to the first narrowing course of di l lie-cl pocket. theinstep nccdlcs l arc again n'itlnirmrn from acti n rctainin; th irloops. and reciprocatin; lmittinL is elicited upon the groups 14 and 153to pro (tn-" .inl hecl pocket 1, the i cdles of said group being firstgradually rcdu ed in number iming v aid knittin; and subsequentlyincrcawil in r v-r order to form the narrowing and ridening courses cal) including a fl ating yarn it. which pan th gap produmd ht the'-\'ithrlrawal of the needles 16.

'lhiinstep needles 13 are again restored to a t re-r and circularknitting foilo s for I. certain number of courses to producc the ankleportion 5 of the tocking. the c ur jcs of loops mnili rsing said ankleportion beinless than a complete cir le and having op ylo site cullsthereof wnnected by float ng yarns 20, which span the gap produced byreason of the inaction of the needles 16.

The gap spanned by the floating yarns 12, 18. 19, 2t and likewise thoseintervening between the yarns 18 and 19, extends along' the center ofthe bottom of the foot and up the center of the back of said ankle.

Following the completion of the ankle portion 5 of said stocking, thefashioned calf t) is next knitted, and preferably upon graduallyincreasing series of needles -abet is to say. the needles of the group16 during the formation of said fashi ned calf, are gradually restoredto action at opposite ends of the interrupted circular series of needlesincluding the groups l3, l4. and 15, said needles 16 being operatedautomatically and at the desired intervals to effect the desired angleof increase for said fashioned. calf, opposite sides of said calf beingpreferably symmetrically shaped during said knitting operations, whichoperations continue until all the needles of the group 16 have beenrestored.

As a result of the gradual restoration of sflitl needles 16, thefloating yarns 21, spanning the gap at the bank of said calf, willgradually decrease in. length as they approaeh the upper end of saidcalf until they finally merge in the tubular leg portion 7,.

which is knitted herein subsequently to the knitting of the calf 6, saidtubular leg having: no seam or gap formed therein, it being knitted upona full or complete circle of needles including the groups 13, 14, 15 and16:

Following the completion of said tubular leg 7, the stocking may beremoved from the machine or knitting: may continue upon the machine torepeat the above-described 0pcrations and thereby knit a second. or aseries of similar blanks.

To complete the stocking from the blank hcreinbefore described. thefloating yarns spanning: the gap along the center of the foot and up thecenter of the hack are sevcrcd and correspondingedges of the various sctions are then stitched together to form a scam fl extending from thetip i of the toe or from the scam Q alow the center of the t e po ket.center of the fTIot and heel pocket, up the center at the hack of theankle 5 and the ccntcr of the calf t; to the top of said calf or, ifdesired. said seaming operations llltlV 'hc continued to the top of thestocking and then-h effect the formation of a mock warn as shown at 2'3.Furthermore. the protective c urses 12 are reveled hack and the tir icourse of the heel pocket is stitched to thc first o'nrsc of the instepportion of the stocking to form the seam 8 across the top f the toe.

While I have her in hown and described int-vol for illustrativepizrporcs one specific crn nlinu-n of my invention. and have disclosedand discussed in detail the construe tion and arrangement incidental tosuch disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention islimited neither to themere details or relative arran ment of the partsof the stockihg nor to ti e specific application herein shown but thatextensive variations from the illustrations may be made withoutdeparting from the principles thereof.

Claims:

1. A stocking including continuous circular knitted instep "of the foot,ankle and fashioned calf portions and reciprocatingly knitted toe andheel pockets, and a seam extending from the top of the toe over thefront thereof and thence along the center of the bottom of the foot andalong the center of the back of the leg.

2. A stocking blank having circular knitted foot, ankle and fashionedcalf portions and fashioned toe and heel portions separated alon the toeand the bottom of the foot and a ong the center of the heel and back bya gap spanned by floating yarns, the floating yarns at the calf portionof said blank gradually decreasing in length from the bottom to the topthereof.

3. A stocking blank having a foot including toe and heel pockets formedwith a ap extending longitudinallynofthe toe and the heel and the bottomof said foot and spanned by floating yarns. an ankle and a fashionedcalfalso provided with a gap at the back, spanned by floating, yarns. thefloating yarns of said calf varying in length to correspond with thefashioning of said calf, and a seamless tubular leg constituting acontinuation of said calf.

1-. That method of making a stocking which comprises commencing theknitting at the toe, knitting reciprocatingly upon two separated seriesof needles to form a toe pocket in two parts connected together byfloating yarns, then in knitting circularly upon an interrupted seriesof needles to produce a tubular web having a gap spanned by floatingyarns, said Web constituting the arch of the foot, then in knitting upontwo separated series'of needles, reciprocatingly to form a heel pocketin two sections connected together by floatingyarns, then in knittingcircularly upon said interrupted series of needles to produce a tubularWeb having a gap spanned by floating yarns, said web constituting theankle of the stocking, then in knitting circularly upon said interingfashioned, said stocking rupted series of needles and in radually addingneedles thereto to form a ashioned calf, and finally in knittingcircular] upon a full set of needles to form a seaml bular webconstituting the leg of the stockin A stockin blank consisting of aplurality of circu arly knitted ravelling back courses, toe pocket, heelpocket, ankle and fashioned calf, each formed with a gap spanned byfloating yarns, the gaps of said several sections uniting in acontinuous aperture extending from the top of the toe over the topthereof and thence along the bottom of the foot and the hack of the legto the top of the calf of the blank, and a tubular leg formed withoutgap and integral with said calf.

6. That method of making a stocking which comprises eommencin theknitting at the toe, knitting reciprocatmgl upon two separated series ofneedles to f orm a toe pocket intwo parts connected together by floatingarns, then in knitting circularly upon an interrupted series of needlesto produce a tubular web having a gap spanned by floating yarns, saidweb constituting the arch of the foot, then in knitting upon twoseparated series of needles, reciprocatingly to form a heel pocket intwo sections connected to ether by floating yarns, then in knittingcircularly upon said interrupted series of needles to produce a tubularweb havinga gap spanned by floating yarns, said web constituting theankle of the stocking, then in knitting circularly upon said interruptedseries of needles and in gradually adding needles thereto form afashioned calf in knitting circularly upon a full set of needles to forma seamless tubular web constituting the leg of the stockin and thenceremoving the floating yarns an seaming the stocking lengthwise the toepocket, along the bottom of the foot and the heel and the back of theankle and calf.

7. A stocking .having narrowed and widened heel and toe pockets andcircularly knit foot, ankle and leg portions, the calf beextending fromthe top 0 the toe pocket along the upper and under side of the toepocket lengthwise thereof, thence lengthwise the under side of the foot,the heel and the back of the ankle and le In testimony whereo I havesigned my name to this s ecification.

EORGE P. BO SWORTH.

ess tuhaving a seam

